'PM's Canada visit will last only a few hours'

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's official visit to Canada will last barely half a day. The G20 summit will end by 2.00 pm on June 27, after which Singh's State visit to Canada will commence.

Dimitri Soudas, Director of Communications to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, said to a question by rediff.com, that "the bilateral visit will take place over one day (actually half a day) following the G20 Summit's conclusion".

This reporter was advised to contact the Indian High Commission when asked whether he would travel to Ottawa or elsewhere and how long Singh will be in Canada,

There is no official confirmation if the prime ministers will have a media briefing and signing of the civilian nuclear agreement. It hasn't been revealed at what time Singh will depart for New Delhi.

Canada's High Commissioner in New Delhi, Joseph Caron joined the media briefing from New Delhi.

There was reference to Prime Minister Singh's recent meeting with Harper in Washington D.C. Published reports then stated that the Indian Prime Minister complained to his Canadian counterpart about the activities of extremist Sikh elements in Canada. 

'Irrespective of the source, both Canadian and Indian (leaders) are very concerned about extremism in every form, particularly if it becomes violent,' said Caron.  He wouldn't speculate on 'the specifics of what they (two leaders) would discuss.'

"We have to wait for the post-meeting, Caron suggested and those details, he implied would be revealed at the media briefing by the two leaders."